EpromHanger, Vancouver BC, September 14

EPROM dropped bass like a stealth bomber crashing into the Hanger at top speed. Born as Alexander Dennis, the guy had massive main stage beats, using frequencies so low that they would break from continuous tones into individual events, laced with thug motifs expressed through myriad styles. He would be all over the map in a single track, touching on trap, acid, drum and bass, dancehall, crunk, chiptune and more, maintaining an emphasis on melody while tastefully avoiding the mash-up fish barrel; it sounded like Jay Dee taking a buzz saw to a spaceship. Utilizing filters and stutters through an M-Audio MIDI controller, Dennis had a clear gangsta attitude, like edIT from the Glitch Mob minus the glitch, working in his 8-bit laced remix of "N.I.P." by Kanye West & Jay-Z and throwing his hands up during every track.

Although the visual highlight of the festival was 1024 Architecture's immersive Hypercube, a 10 meter cube with smoke machines and very clever lighting cues synched up to a sharply sound-designed dubstep track, the visuals for EPROM's set brought a new dimension to the previously stagnant Hanger. 3D imaging cameras captured the producer's movements as he grooved on his sounds, turning his oversized shadow into a swarm of white, insect-like shapes that followed his every movement as he hopped around the stage, later exploding into a screen of worms crawling around willy-nilly. Dennis was selling it, and the Hangar bought it.